Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-08-29
FAREWELL SERMON.
Rev. f. II. Ollie Bids Adieu to His Sacra-
mento Congregation.

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mon last evening. He leaves to-day 70
Cenfen nee and will not be again returne
to- this city, having remained here th
lil.it alGo. wed by church regulations, thre
years. EEA departure is regretted by all
as be is on. of the most popular divine
that sTer so 2upied a pulpit in this city
The church was crowded and nctwith
standing the "a ct that the isles were file,
with chairs, hsa dreds were turned away
He chose for his text:
And noys bretnSsn l commend You to God
and to the word os ri grace, which is able 4
build you I'D, and 10 give you an inheritance
among all them Viii ch are sanctihed.-Acts
XIX, 81.
These words are p art of Paul's farewell
address to the Cbnrc. h of Bphesus. Fol
three years Ae had hived asaong them
teaching them publicly and from house tc
house, and had]not shwrr, ned to declare unto
them all the counsel Of g cd, nop ceased ts
warn them, night and day, with tears
During those Tears very strong and en-
during ties had been forAlesl between them,
and now duty called hins te' another field
and the time had come to say farewell.
Very painful, indeed, was this separa-
con between pastor and people. Ee was
their spiritual father. ThEous his labors
they had been won to Christ with alsbu-
mility of mind, and with many tearssand
Temptations he had laborei with and for
them, keeping back nothing that was prcfit-
able to them, so that on leaving he was aisle
to say take you to record this day tbs
/ am pure from the blead of all men"
How well Goldsmisk,s description of 4
true minister must have applied to him!
Thus in his duty, prompt at. every call,
ne watched ana wept he pFsyed and ielt for all.
Ana as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its ncw-fedged offspring TO the skies
de tired each art, reproved each dull DELAY
Allured to brighter worlds ard led the Way
To them his heart, his love- bis prayers were
given,
But al his serious thoughts ha&9est in heaven
The godly minister cannot work three
years among people and net take them
In his heart There is something so sacred
and tender in the relation of 2, true pastor
to the Hock OF Christ that the tsnderest and
hottest affection for them is inevitable. He
mingles with them in seasons of ioy and
sorrow. Are friends gathered for a social
evening? The pastor and his wife are taken
into the circle, Is child to be paptized or
a daughter given in holy marriage? The
pastor must bring his presence and his
oenedlctlon to that joyous scene. Does
sorrow cross the threshold of any home
The pastor is admitted to that sacred in
closure as though he were a brother be-
loved, and he alone must read the solemn
burial service when loved dust is COM
mltted to its kindred dust, while to the
shadowed home he is welcome as son of
consolation. One who lives in the midst
OF such tender relationships and shares
such precious condolences and who watches
for souls as one who must give an account
will find his heart knit to mis- people in
threefold cord OF love that is not easily
broken.
And above all, spiritual children for
whom he has travelled in the throes of
the spirit till Christ was formed in them
take firm hold on his heart. When one
has stretched the hand of faith across the
dark abyss that yawns before the penitent
seeker, and has helped a trembling soul up
on the Rock of Ages, an eternal kinship
of soul is formed.
have bowed with some of YOU at the
altar when the burden of sin was ON your
souls, and heard your first broken PRAYERS
and your first accents of testimony when
you told of new-found peace and ioy,
and hehceforth you are specially near and
dear to me. And to leave such as these
was a sore trial to Paul, as it has been to
many an itenerant since.
II is a sad thing to go among strangers
to walk strange streets, to visit strange
homes, to learn strange names, to sit IN
the sanctuary and see not one familiar
lace and hear not one familiar voice.
Ihat Is trial, as everyone knows who
has had that great ache at the heart we
call inconsistencies.
Then the itinerant sometimes leaves that
which is more sacred than the friendships
that have blossomed and ripened in years
OF fellowship and labor. You know. some
of you, what made it hardest for Won To
lpnUe hnr,,oc Il,
There were sacred mounds on those New
England hiilsides or Western plains, where
you lifted the sod and planted your hopes
and your hearts, and around which mem
ory Will llnger till the last pulse of lite
There son was laid to rest, and your
broken hearts hobble on without him-tbe
staff on which your age would have leaned
is broken in twain. Or on that hillside
daughter awaits the call of the King. and
the flowers must fade above her grave be-
cause untended by loving hands. That
quiet nook IN distant country graveyard
is sacred because there a father and a
mother sleeps. So, as the itinerants Jour
ney up and down they leave their treas
ures as they go. The hardest task we have
had was TO leave grave in the cemetery at
Santa ClBra. But the dead must bury their
dend, and we must follow the Master.
But these changes have their compensa
tlons. The revolving wheel of the timer
ancy keeps Us in white harvests, and when
the evening comes, and the Lord of the
harvest asks for our sheaves, we will come
with larger armful than if we had cleaned
all our lives in some narrow corner of the
Masters heritage. Stars in our crown of
rejoicing are worth moving for. Though
the graves of our dead are left to the care
of strangers, and though many a good-bv
sends its chill to the heart, these trials are
in some measure compensated by our
lengthening list of friends. We pick them
up at every change, and wear them as preci-
Gus jewels on our hearts. But for the
ltinerancy, beloved friends, | should not
know you; and whether / have been
blessing to you or not, am the better for
my Christian fellowship with many of you.
And now beloved friends, 1 will not add
anything III the shape of a formal farewell.
would rather take your hands and ex
change good-byes and God bless you's face
to face and heart to heart, than at this cold
distance. l will only say that under God
Whatever success has attended this pastor
ate is due to the uniform cooperation and
sympathy | have received from Won all
For all your kind words and kind acts |
thank you with full heart. The happiest
hours of my life have been spent with YOU.
and TO many OF you my dear wife and
are linked by ties of special tenderness, for
we have gone into your homes and taken
your hands and mingled our tears with
yours when you were passing through deep
waters. and our hearts have been welded
together in the fires of affliction-and YOU
have come into our home and outwatched
the silent stars bv the bedside of our gentle
sufferers, and by a thousand tender minis
tries have made yourselves inexpressibly
dear 10 Us, and heaven has to us an added
charm because we shall renew these blessed
fellowships there.
There Is no class part rom with greater
sadness than those who have sat under my
ministry these three years and are still
mereiful TO God. For ycur personal friend
ship thank you. have found mary of
my warmest friends. outside nv own
church. l thank you for your respectful
attention to my ministry. But it is a sol
emn that that tonight seals the record of
my pastorate with you and / must. meet
that record at the bar of God. oh, have l
failed to faithfully set life and death before
you and to entreat you in Christs stead to
be reconciled to.siod and to live in your
presence the Gospel l have preached? Be
that as it may, nay opportunities here are
past and | MIST meet my record at the
Judgment seat, and so must. you. VIII
you not heed; my last appeal and accept
Christ now2
H. g. l.